March 19, 2014
By Neal Tepel
Washington, DC – President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum directing the Labor Department to develop new overtime rules that would make more workers eligible for time-and-a-half pay for their extra hours of work. The Obama administration's regulation changes will affect millions of workers across the country. Employees in every industry will receive additional overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week.
More than five million "fast-food managers, loan officers, computer technicians and others whom businesses classified as 'executives, professional employees or managers' will now be entitled to overtime pay. In the past, many employees have been taken advantage of and not compensated for the extra hours they worked and this is now being addressed by the President. Low paying workers classified as a manager were ineligible for overtime. A manager earning more than $455 a week, or $23,660 a year was not entitled to overtime pay. This will now change under Obama's newly-signed regulations – workers will receive more money and more respect.
"By making more people eligible for overtime pay, both workers and our economy will benefit. When workers have more money to spend in their local communities, everybody wins," said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry.
